Is State Law Looking for Trouble: The Federal Arbitration Act Flexes Its Preemptive Muscle

This article begins with an overview of the preemption concept as it affects the American legal system. The source of preemption power is revealed and the most common forms of preemption are introduced. Next, the article discusses preemption and its interaction with the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The discussion begins with a chronological view of the cases that have defined the effects the FAA has on arbitration agreements via its preemption power and ends with a summary of the current state of the law.